Assam CM Says He Has Asked DGP To Study HC’s Order On Dhemaji Blast

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday said that he has asked Director-General of Police GP Singh to study the verdict of the Gauhati High Court acquitting all the accused in the 2004 Dhemaji bomb blast case.

Addressing a press conference, Sarma said his government will take a decision on appealing against it only after a thorough study of the verdict.

"I have asked the DGP to study the verdict of the Gauhati HC, and if we get legal advice, we will appeal against it to the Supreme Court," he said.

The high court on Thursday acquitted all six accused in the blast case in which 18 people, including 13 school children, were killed on the Independence Day in 2004.

A division bench of justices Michael Zothankhuma and Mridul Kumar overturned a 2019 order of the Dhemaji district and sessions court, which had sentenced four persons to life imprisonment and two others to four years in jail, citing lack of sufficient evidence.

Delivering the verdict, the court observed that "the circumstantial evidence does not form an unbroken chain that leads to the possible inference that the appellants are guilty of crime".

There is no evidence at all except for the statements recorded under section 164 of the CrPC, which are not corroborated with proof, it said.

The prosecution has failed to establish the involvement of the accused in the case, the court said. 

Find no sufficient evidence to uphold the conviction, all the accused persons are acquitted, it said.

While Dipanjali Buragohain, Muhi Handique, Jatin Dubori and Leela Gogoi were sentenced to life imprisonment by the district court, Prashanta Bhuyan and Hemen Gogoi were sentenced to four years in jail.

The explosion had taken place at the Dhemaji College ground during Independence Day celebrations.

The ULFA, which called for a boycott of the celebrations, had claimed responsibility for the blast. Besides those killed, around 45 people were injured in the explosion.

-With PTI Input